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CHAPTER XII SE?ORITA
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“So, sir,” Blue Bonnet1 pointed2 a warning forefinger3 at the upright Solomon, “remember, this is the day when Aunt Lucinda expects everyone—particularly, small brown dogs and nieces from Texas—to do their duty! The Boston relatives are coming. I can’t exactly explain all that stands for, Solomon; but I am quite sure it means that they are to be taken seriously—very seriously; and I’m afraid, old fellow, that taking folks seriously isn’t our long suit.”

Solomon looked distinctly bored; here was the eventful day, and though the morning was well along, there was still no sign of dinner—outside of the kitchen, that is; and Solomon had found, to his pained surprise, that the attitude of the kitchen was, on this morning of all mornings, decidedly discouraging to a small dog.

“Dinner’s to be at three,” Blue Bonnet went on; “you needn’t sit up any longer, sir.”

Solomon availed himself of this permission gladly, pricking4 up his ears at the mention of dinner; the subject began to get interesting.

“But the relatives come on the noon train—there209 are three of them, Solomon; Cousin Tracy Winthrop, Cousin Honoria Winthrop, and Cousin Augusta Winthrop! It sounds a bit alarming, doesn’t it? And oh, Solomon!” Blue Bonnet scrambled5 to her feet. “I haven’t done a thing to my room yet, and I’m to go to ride with Uncle Cliff directly.”

Solomon tiptoed upstairs behind her, rejoicing in the fact that it was not a school day, and that there was a ride in prospect6.

“Excepting Saturdays and Sundays, this is the first holiday I’ve had since starting school,” Blue Bonnet told him. “Oh me, did you ever see such a room!”

Sitting full in a spot of sunshine, Solomon listened and watched operations, blinking at the rapidity with which his young mistress went from one thing to another.

Miss Lucinda had not yet been able to make Blue Bonnet realize the advisability of putting things as much as possible in order over night. “I’d give a good bit to see Benita come walking in that door just about now!” Blue Bonnet declared, giving the bedspread a smoothing touch. “But it won’t be Benita, it’ll be Aunt Lucinda. And what do you think she’ll say at finding you in possession, young man?”

Solomon’s manner implied that he willingly shifted all responsibility on to her shoulders.

210 “I wonder what I’d’ve been like now—supposing I had been sent East years ago—as Aunt Lucinda wanted?” Blue Bonnet said.

Before her companion had time to consider this, Miss Lucinda appeared.

“Solomon!” Blue Bonnet commanded, “your manners!”

Solomon advanced, holding up a paw politely.

Miss Lucinda took it, then she looked at Solomon’s mistress. “I draw the line at my room, Blue Bonnet.”

“Thank you so much, Aunt Lucinda, for not drawing it—any closer. You hear that, Solomon?”

“To hear is not always to obey, with Solomon,” Aunt Lucinda commented. “Your uncle is waiting for you, Blue Bonnet.”

“I won’t be a jiffy now!” Blue Bonnet went to the closet for her habit. “Fortunately, Uncle Cliff never seems to mind my keeping him waiting; I reckon he’s used to it.”

“I should call that very unfortunate, my dear; not to say, wanting in proper respect to Mr. Ashe.”

Blue Bonnet looked amazed. “I never thought of it in that way!”

“Uncle Cliff,” she asked, as they cantered briskly off down the drive, Solomon pelting7 along behind, “do you mind my keeping you waiting?”

211 “I’ve always supposed it was the way with women—young or old.”

“Then you do mind! Why didn’t you say so? Have you thought it ‘lacking in proper respect,’ too?”

“Bless your heart, no, indeed! Is that what you’ve been looking so sober over, Honey?”

But Blue Bonnet continued to look sober. “There’s such a lot to what Grandmother calls ‘one’s duty to one’s neighbor.’ Do you reckon I’ll ever be able to learn it all?”

“I don’t see how your mother’s daughter could very well help it, Honey.”

Blue Bonnet stroked the mare8’s neck thoughtfully, looking out across the bare fields, a wistful look in her eyes—“I wonder why mothers and fathers have to—go away? One needs them so. I’m not forgetting,” she turned to Mr. Ashe, “how I have you, and Grandmother, and Aunt Lucinda, only—”

“I understand, Blue Bonnet.”

Blue Bonnet was looking out over the fields again; they looked gray and deserted9, and the wind blowing across them was bleak10 and raw. Along the hills the clouds lay thick and lowering; Denham prophesied11 snow before another twenty-four hours. The few sparrows hopping12 forlornly from fence to fence had their feathers all ruffled13 the wrong way.

It was all very dreary14, Blue Bonnet thought;212 and to-morrow Uncle Cliff would be off to New York without her, and in just a little while longer he would be going back to the ranch15 without her.

Blue Bonnet gave herself an impatient shake; her immediate16 duty to her immediate neighbor hardly consisted in spoiling his ride for him. “Don’t you want to give me a good old Texas run, Uncle Cliff?”

“And have folks think we’re being run away with, Honey?”

“There isn’t anyone around—I reckon they’re all home either getting the turkey ready, or getting ready for the turkey. And if there was, it wouldn’t matter.” Blue Bonnet gave the mare the word; the next instant she was off, laughing back at him over her shoulder.

“She’s almost as good as Firefly, isn’t she?” she asked, as her uncle caught up with her.

“She’s a pretty decent little horse, all right.”

“I wish she had a regular name. Darrel just calls her Pet,—and Lady.”

“Why don’t you name her?”

“I shall—now that Darrel’s going to let me have her right along. I’m glad you’ve seen to that.”

“Yes, I’ve seen to that. Don’t you want another scamper17, Honey?”

Blue Bonnet pointed with her whip at a square213 white stone by the side of the road. “Do you see that?”

“The milestone18?”

“Do you see how many miles it says we are from Woodford? And I promised to be in by half-past one at the latest! Indeed I do want a run—but it’ll have to be in the direction of home. It must be original sin, and nothing less, that always sets me traveling whenever it’s most necessary I should be at home.”

“Don’t you worry, we’ll get there in time,” Mr. Ashe promised; and they did get back just as the tall clock in the hall was striking the half hour.

From the sitting-room19 came the murmur20 of voices. “The Boston relatives,” Blue Bonnet whispered, her finger on her lips, and beckoned21 Solomon back, as he was trotting22 on in, on hospitable23 thoughts intent.

“We must make ourselves presentable first,” she told him.

On her bed, Blue Bonnet found her white serge laid out ready; she hadn’t worn it yet. It was next to the red she had given away—the prettiest of her new gowns.

“You see, sir,” she confided24 to Solomon, “this is an Occasion—with a big O.”

But standing25 before the glass to unbraid her hair, Blue Bonnet had what she considered a sudden inspiration.

214 The next moment, she was kneeling on her closet floor, diving eagerly into the big box, where she kept certain of her most treasured possessions. “Solomon Clyde Ashe!” she cried, excitedly, “I’ve such a surprise in store for them!”

Fifteen minutes later when Delia knocked at her door, Blue Bonnet resolutely26 declined to open it. “I’ll be down presently,” she said through the keyhole.

“But Miss Clyde told me, miss—”

“I don’t need any help, thank you, Delia!” Blue Bonnet insisted.

“But your aunt said I was to—”

“I’m getting on beautifully! Please go away, Delia. And—Delia, please don’t—say anything.”

Delia hesitated; there was mystery and, it was to be feared, mischief27 in the very air. “It’s past two now, Miss Blue Bonnet! And Miss Clyde said—she—she’ll be wanting you to look your best, I’m thinking.”

“I’ll look—you’ll see how I’ll look!”

Which was cold comfort in Delia’s opinion. She retired28, in much uneasiness of mind, to the kitchen, devoutly29 hoping Miss Lucinda would not invade those premises30.

“’Deed and she do be big enough to dress herself,” Katie comforted, not referring, however, to Miss Lucinda.

“’Tis up to something she is!” Delia declared.

215 Katie gave the big turkey an affectionate glance before closing the oven door. “Did you ever see such a beauty! And cooking like a Christian31! Leave off worrying, Delia; ’tis no harm she’s up to!”

The tall clock in the hall was striking half-past two when Blue Bonnet came downstairs. Grandmother, wondering a little anxiously why she did not come, caught the soft swish of skirts.

It seemed to Grandmother that she took an unusually long time to cross the short space between the foot of the stairs and the sitting-room door; then all at once, she gave a little gasp32 of astonishment33.

Standing in the doorway34, in quaint35, old-fashioned, red satin gown, with high-heeled satin slippers36, and stockings to match, a black lace mantilla thrown lightly over the hair, dressed high, with a great carved Spanish comb, a red rose showing coquettishly above the left ear, on her slender fingers two or three Mexican rings in old-time setting, and around her throat a string of heavy gold beads37, Blue Bonnet bore as little resemblance to the white-clad figure Grandmother had been expecting to see as she did to the laughing, bare-headed girl who had come rushing up the drive little more than an hour before, her hair flying in the wind.

For a moment no one in the room stirred or216 spoke38, then Mr. Ashe cried delightedly, “Why Honey!”

The “Boston relatives” looked from Grandmother to Aunt Lucinda, from Aunt Lucinda to the demure-faced figure in the doorway. They had been prepared for a mere39 schoolgirl—someone very like what her mother had been at her age. It was difficult to imagine Elizabeth Clyde in such a costume as that.

Grandmother made the introductions. Aunt Lucinda was still asking herself why, oh, why she had not taken possession of that costume upon Blue Bonnet’s first showing it to her?

Then the General and Alec came in, creating a diversion for which Blue Bonnet, who was feeling rather breathless, for all her brave showing, was truly grateful.

“My dear young lady,” General Trent turned to her, after paying his respects to the rest—“or, I should say, Se?orita?—this is a surprise!”

“To all of us, General,” Mrs. Clyde said. “On the whole, I think I like it.”

Blue Bonnet came to rest a hand on her grandmother’s shoulder. “Truly, Grandmother?” she asked softly. “I—hoped you would.”

“Isn’t she stunning40!” Alec exclaimed.

When Delia came to announce dinner a few moments later, she broke off suddenly in the middle217 of her sentence—much to her own confusion—to stare open-eyed at Blue Bonnet.

“If you could see her!” she said to Katie, escaping as soon as might be to the kitchen. “Sitting there like a picture—and that innocent! For all the world as if butter wouldn’t melt in her mouth! ‘And please don’t say anything,’ says she to me—and well she might! I’d like to be knowing what her aunt do be thinking of such goings-on this minute.”

“I’m after thinking,” Katie remarked wisely, “that the mistress herself do be enjoying the bit of a lark41 with the best of them. Sure and it isn’t the same house, since the darlin’ came.”

Meanwhile, Blue Bonnet found herself placed between the eldest42 of those “Boston relatives” and Alec. She had never seen anyone before quite like this elderly gentleman, whom it seemed almost disrespectful to call “Cousin Tracy,” even though he had told her to.

He should have looked old, but he didn’t; she supposed he was what Aunt Lucinda called “well preserved”; and she wondered, a dancing light in her eyes, if perhaps he was not looking upon her as being something of a “pickle.”

“Mayn’t I share the good thought, Se?orita?” Mr. Winthrop asked.

Blue Bonnet looked confused. This was what218 came of letting one’s thoughts run away with one before people.

“Do you know,” she said, hurriedly, “this is my first real New England Thanksgiving.”

“Was that the reason you appeared in Spanish costume?”

“You asked that just the way Aunt Lucinda asks things sometimes! It must be a Boston fashion.”

“Possibly. And how are you enjoying your ‘New England Thanksgiving’?”

Blue Bonnet looked thoughtfully up and down the long table, with Grandmother at the head and Aunt Lucinda at the foot. The shades had been drawn43 and the only light came from the wax candles in the tall silver candelabra on table and mantel. They cast a soft, mellow44 light about the room and over the perfectly45 appointed table, in the centre of which stood the best Blue Canton bowl, filled with great, tawny46 chrysanthemums47.

“I like it,” she said slowly, finding it hard to express her feeling; “it is so—homey and—familified. I like to think of how many Thanksgiving dinners must have been held in this very room—I don’t mean just the dinner part—anyone can have turkey and such things—but the way in which it has been done—like to-day. And it is nice to be part Clyde, isn’t it?”

“Very; though it is an honor I can lay no claim to.”

219 Blue Bonnet laughed; she liked Cousin Tracy, he treated her as if she were quite grown-up. “But the Winthrops are—” she hesitated.

“We think they—are. But we have been accused of being over proud—where family is concerned.”

Blue Bonnet waited to exchange a smile with Uncle Cliff, seated opposite between Cousin Honoria and Cousin Augusta, and apparently48 getting on very well with them both. “Grandmother was a Winthrop,” she said, then,—“and it’s Aunt Lucinda’s middle name. Names count for a good deal back here, don’t they?”

“Or what they stand for.”

“Ashe stands for a good deal out in Texas.”

“See here!” Alec protested in an undertone, “I didn’t think you were the sort to go back on an old friend.”

“I thought you were talking to Aunt Lucinda,” Blue Bonnet answered.

“If not the rose—you know the rest!”

“Did you tell Aunt Lucinda that?”

“I’d be so apt to.”

“Alec, do you realize how long we have been sitting here? I’m getting dreadfully tired, aren’t you? I wish grandmother would announce fifteen minutes for recess49, and insist—like the ‘rankin’ officer’ does—on our all getting out into the fresh air.”

220 “For a game of tag? I can imagine your elderly relative seconding the motion!”

“A little motion would do him and us all a lot of good. He’s really awfully50 nice, Alec; and he hasn’t once asked me how I like Woodford. I’m so tired of answering that question; I’ve even thought of getting my answer printed on little slips of paper and handing one to every new person I meet.”

“Oh, but there’s time yet! The turkey is just going off, having gone off considerably51—before going off. And experience teaches me that there is more to follow.”

“I begin to understand why Thanksgiving is kept only once a year.”

“Why, Se?orita?” the General asked, overhearing the remark.

“It is so perfectly lovely to be called ‘Se?orita!’” Blue Bonnet assured him; “I haven’t been called that since Benita said good-bye to me, until to-day.”

“But you haven’t answered General Trent’s question, Blue Bonnet,” Miss Lucinda reminded her.

“I—was trying not to, Aunt Lucinda!” Blue Bonnet answered.

There was a laugh, then the General said, “I withdraw it, Se?orita,” and the talk drifted off to other things.

221 “Break number two,” Blue Bonnet confided to Alec.

“People shouldn’t ask questions,” he comforted her,—“unexpected questions like that.”

“N—no,” Blue Bonnet agreed. “Sometimes I think it ought to be—‘elders should be seen and not heard.’”

At last came desert, with the nuts and raisins52; Mrs. Clyde, taking pity on Blue Bonnet, suggested that the young people take theirs off to the back parlor53.

“Isn’t Grandmother the dearest!” Blue Bonnet said, as she and Alec settled themselves in two big chairs before the fire.

“She’s all right!” Alec answered. “I’ve a piece of news for you, my lady.”

Blue Bonnet caught the almonds he tossed her. “Good?”

“I’ve a cousin coming to stay with us; he’s been at school in New York and—”

“I’m glad; he’s a he!”

“Could a ‘he’ be a she?”

“Because—there are such a lot of ‘she’s’ in Woodford!”

“The female population of Massachusetts is—”

“A good deal in evidence,” Blue Bonnet interpolated. “What’s your cousin’s name?”

“Boyd Trent. His people are going abroad—he’s to stay here until summer.”

222 “And go to school with you?”

“Yes.”

“How old is he?”

“Three or four months younger than ‘yours truly.’”

“Then he’ll come between you and me.”

“I hope not.”

“As far as age goes—I don’t see how you can help it.” It seemed to Blue Bonnet, thinking it over afterwards, that Alec showed very little enthusiasm over his cousin’s coming. At the time, however, she hardly noticed it.

Going to the piano, she began playing snatches of old Spanish songs, in which one caught the tinkling54 of the guitar,—the gay sound of the castanets. But presently, she slipped gradually off into softer, more plaintive55 music. Music, it seemed to Alec, that must have been written by some exile, longing56 for the home he had left.

Blue Bonnet had quite forgotten him; when at last he spoke to her, and she turned to answer, it was to find her audience considerably enlarged.

“You are not going to stop, Se?orita?” the General asked. He was not the only one to find both playing and player attractive.

Mrs. Clyde’s eyes were turned upon the slender, brilliantly clad, little figure opposite with an expression in them that made Miss Lucinda sigh softly to herself.

223 Between them all, they kept her there playing for them until Cousin Honoria declared it was quite unfair—the poor child would be tired out.

“But when you come to stay with us in Boston,” Cousin Augusta added, “we shall want you to play for us again. You will come for a week end some-time—even if we are all old people? We will try not to have it too dull for you. Tracy will show you his collections—he has several very fine collections.”

“I’d love to,” Blue Bonnet answered; she came to sit between the two little gentlewomen on the old-fashioned high-backed davenport. They were not in the least formidable; she thought she should like them very much.

Then she leaned forward with one of her eager movements; the talk had suddenly turned on Texas; Mr. Ashe was telling of ranch life out there.

Closing her eyes, Blue Bonnet could almost fancy herself back in the big ranch house living-room. How the wind would be howling about the weather-stained house to-night. And how lonesome Uncle Joe Terry and Benita must be without Uncle Cliff and her.

It occurred to Blue Bonnet that she had not given much thought to that side of the question. She would write a good long letter to them both to-morrow, telling them all about her day, and how224 she had worn her Spanish dress, and how everyone liked Uncle Cliff so much.

It was later that Cousin Tracy asked—as the good nights were being said—“By the way, Se?orita, you have not told me how you like our East?”

“Did you put him up to it?” Blue Bonnet demanded, cornering Alec.

“Not I,” the boy laughed.

“At least he didn’t say ‘Woodford.’ But why did he call it ‘our East’?”

“Ask him,” Alec advised.

“Solomon,” Blue Bonnet remarked, when Alec and the General had gone, and she was paying her good night visit to the basket under the back stairs where Solomon slept, “I hope you have enjoyed your Thanksgiving as much as I have mine.”

Solomon, who had fared less wisely than too well, grunted57 sleepily; Solomon felt that the only fault to be found with Thanksgiving was that it did not come oftener.

Cousin Honoria and Cousin Augusta had gone upstairs; their brother was taking a short turn on the veranda58 with Mr. Ashe. Blue Bonnet went into the sitting-room, where Grandmother and Aunt Lucinda lingered, talking over the events of the day.

“And how,” Grandmother asked, “have you225 enjoyed your ‘first real New England Thanksgiving’?”

“Immensely!” Blue Bonnet answered.

“It is the first for me that has not been entirely59 ‘New England.’” Mrs. Clyde’s glance rested on Blue Bonnet’s dress.

“But you said you liked it?”

Grandmother’s smile was reassuring60.

Blue Bonnet turned to her aunt. “And—?” Aunt Lucinda had not expressed her opinion as yet; Blue Bonnet hoped she had not been holding it in reserve.

“I think we have all had a very pleasant day—though it has held its surprises—for some of us,” Miss Lucinda said.

“I don’t know why I did it!” Blue Bonnet explained, “I just took the notion, I suppose. I’m afraid Benita would think I had done my hair up very badly—she’s always done it for me before. And I should have worn the earrings61—I have them, great gold ones, with pearl pendants—but I’ve never had my ears pierced; papa didn’t like it. Benita used to tie them for me, so one could hardly tell—but I hadn’t the patience—nor the time.”

Miss Lucinda felt that the day had held its unknown blessings—they had been spared the earrings. “I think the costume was quite complete enough without the earrings,” she said.

226 “I won’t wear any of it again, if you’d rather not,” Blue Bonnet offered, always ready to meet Aunt Lucinda halfway62.

“Suppose we say, not without consulting your grandmother or me. And now,—suppose we say good night—Se?orita.”

“I believe in my heart,” Blue Bonnet told her reflection in the glass, “that she really and truly liked it! I know the Boston relatives did. Poor dears!”

And in her own room, Miss Lucinda was owning to herself that the day, for one reason or another, had been different from all the long line of Thanksgivings stretching out behind her.

“Mother,” she said, coming to the half-open door between their rooms, “I’ve been thinking—how would it be to give Blue Bonnet a party—during Christmas week?”

“As a reward of merit?” Mrs. Clyde asked.

“Elizabeth used always to have her Christmas party,” Miss Lucinda answered. “We have not entertained, in that way, since she went West.”

点击收听单词发音收听单词发音  

1 bonnet AtSzQ     
n.无边女帽;童帽
参考例句:
  • The baby's bonnet keeps the sun out of her eyes.婴孩的帽子遮住阳光,使之不刺眼。
  • She wore a faded black bonnet garnished with faded artificial flowers.她戴着一顶褪了色的黑色无边帽,帽上缀着褪了色的假花。
2 pointed Il8zB4     
adj.尖的,直截了当的
参考例句:
  • He gave me a very sharp pointed pencil.他给我一支削得非常尖的铅笔。
  • She wished to show Mrs.John Dashwood by this pointed invitation to her brother.她想通过对达茨伍德夫人提出直截了当的邀请向她的哥哥表示出来。
3 forefinger pihxt     
n.食指
参考例句:
  • He pinched the leaf between his thumb and forefinger.他将叶子捏在拇指和食指之间。
  • He held it between the tips of his thumb and forefinger.他用他大拇指和食指尖拿着它。
4 pricking b0668ae926d80960b702acc7a89c84d6     
刺,刺痕,刺痛感
参考例句:
  • She felt a pricking on her scalp. 她感到头皮上被扎了一下。
  • Intercostal neuralgia causes paroxysmal burning pain or pricking pain. 肋间神经痛呈阵发性的灼痛或刺痛。
5 scrambled 2e4a1c533c25a82f8e80e696225a73f2     
v.快速爬行( scramble的过去式和过去分词 );攀登;争夺;(军事飞机)紧急起飞
参考例句:
  • Each scrambled for the football at the football ground. 足球场上你争我夺。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
  • He scrambled awkwardly to his feet. 他笨拙地爬起身来。 来自《简明英汉词典》
6 prospect P01zn     
n.前景,前途;景色,视野
参考例句:
  • This state of things holds out a cheerful prospect.事态呈现出可喜的前景。
  • The prospect became more evident.前景变得更加明朗了。
7 pelting b37c694d7cf984648f129136d4020bb8     
微不足道的,无价值的,盛怒的
参考例句:
  • The rain came pelting down. 倾盆大雨劈头盖脸地浇了下来。
  • Hailstones of abuse were pelting him. 阵阵辱骂冰雹般地向他袭来。
8 mare Y24y3     
n.母马,母驴
参考例句:
  • The mare has just thrown a foal in the stable.那匹母马刚刚在马厩里产下了一只小马驹。
  • The mare foundered under the heavy load and collapsed in the road.那母马因负载过重而倒在路上。
9 deserted GukzoL     
adj.荒芜的,荒废的,无人的,被遗弃的
参考例句:
  • The deserted village was filled with a deathly silence.这个荒废的村庄死一般的寂静。
  • The enemy chieftain was opposed and deserted by his followers.敌人头目众叛亲离。
10 bleak gtWz5     
adj.(天气)阴冷的;凄凉的;暗淡的
参考例句:
  • They showed me into a bleak waiting room.他们引我来到一间阴冷的会客室。
  • The company's prospects look pretty bleak.这家公司的前景异常暗淡。
11 prophesied 27251c478db94482eeb550fc2b08e011     
v.预告,预言( prophesy的过去式和过去分词 )
参考例句:
  • She prophesied that she would win a gold medal. 她预言自己将赢得金牌。
  • She prophesied the tragic outcome. 她预言有悲惨的结果。 来自《简明英汉词典》
12 hopping hopping     
n. 跳跃 动词hop的现在分词形式
参考例句:
  • The clubs in town are really hopping. 城里的俱乐部真够热闹的。
  • I'm hopping over to Paris for the weekend. 我要去巴黎度周末。
13 ruffled e4a3deb720feef0786be7d86b0004e86     
adj. 有褶饰边的, 起皱的 动词ruffle的过去式和过去分词
参考例句:
  • She ruffled his hair affectionately. 她情意绵绵地拨弄着他的头发。
  • All this talk of a strike has clearly ruffled the management's feathers. 所有这些关于罢工的闲言碎语显然让管理层很不高兴。
14 dreary sk1z6     
adj.令人沮丧的,沉闷的,单调乏味的
参考例句:
  • They live such dreary lives.他们的生活如此乏味。
  • She was tired of hearing the same dreary tale of drunkenness and violence.她听够了那些关于酗酒和暴力的乏味故事。
15 ranch dAUzk     
n.大牧场,大农场
参考例句:
  • He went to work on a ranch.他去一个大农场干活。
  • The ranch is in the middle of a large plateau.该牧场位于一个辽阔高原的中部。
16 immediate aapxh     
adj.立即的;直接的,最接近的;紧靠的
参考例句:
  • His immediate neighbours felt it their duty to call.他的近邻认为他们有责任去拜访。
  • We declared ourselves for the immediate convocation of the meeting.我们主张立即召开这个会议。
17 scamper 9Tqzs     
v.奔跑,快跑
参考例句:
  • She loves to scamper through the woods of the forest.她喜欢在森林里的树林中穿梭嬉戏。
  • The flash sent the foxes scampering away.闪光惊得狐狸四处逃窜。
18 milestone c78zM     
n.里程碑;划时代的事件
参考例句:
  • The film proved to be a milestone in the history of cinema.事实证明这部影片是电影史上的一个里程碑。
  • I think this is a very important milestone in the relations between our two countries.我认为这是我们两国关系中一个十分重要的里程碑。
19 sitting-room sitting-room     
n.(BrE)客厅,起居室
参考例句:
  • The sitting-room is clean.起居室很清洁。
  • Each villa has a separate sitting-room.每栋别墅都有一间独立的起居室。
20 murmur EjtyD     
n.低语,低声的怨言;v.低语,低声而言
参考例句:
  • They paid the extra taxes without a murmur.他们毫无怨言地交了附加税。
  • There was a low murmur of conversation in the hall.大厅里有窃窃私语声。
21 beckoned b70f83e57673dfe30be1c577dd8520bc     
v.(用头或手的动作)示意,召唤( beckon的过去式和过去分词 )
参考例句:
  • He beckoned to the waiter to bring the bill. 他招手示意服务生把账单送过来。
  • The seated figure in the corner beckoned me over. 那个坐在角落里的人向我招手让我过去。 来自《简明英汉词典》
22 trotting cbfe4f2086fbf0d567ffdf135320f26a     
小跑,急走( trot的现在分词 ); 匆匆忙忙地走
参考例句:
  • The riders came trotting down the lane. 这骑手骑着马在小路上慢跑。
  • Alan took the reins and the small horse started trotting. 艾伦抓住缰绳,小马开始慢跑起来。
23 hospitable CcHxA     
adj.好客的;宽容的;有利的,适宜的
参考例句:
  • The man is very hospitable.He keeps open house for his friends and fellow-workers.那人十分好客,无论是他的朋友还是同事,他都盛情接待。
  • The locals are hospitable and welcoming.当地人热情好客。
24 confided 724f3f12e93e38bec4dda1e47c06c3b1     
v.吐露(秘密,心事等)( confide的过去式和过去分词 );(向某人)吐露(隐私、秘密等)
参考例句:
  • She confided all her secrets to her best friend. 她向她最要好的朋友倾吐了自己所有的秘密。
  • He confided to me that he had spent five years in prison. 他私下向我透露,他蹲过五年监狱。 来自《简明英汉词典》
25 standing 2hCzgo     
n.持续,地位;adj.永久的,不动的,直立的,不流动的
参考例句:
  • After the earthquake only a few houses were left standing.地震过后只有几幢房屋还立着。
  • They're standing out against any change in the law.他们坚决反对对法律做任何修改。
26 resolutely WW2xh     
adj.坚决地,果断地
参考例句:
  • He resolutely adhered to what he had said at the meeting. 他坚持他在会上所说的话。
  • He grumbles at his lot instead of resolutely facing his difficulties. 他不是果敢地去面对困难,而是抱怨自己运气不佳。
27 mischief jDgxH     
n.损害,伤害,危害;恶作剧,捣蛋,胡闹
参考例句:
  • Nobody took notice of the mischief of the matter. 没有人注意到这件事情所带来的危害。
  • He seems to intend mischief.看来他想捣蛋。
28 retired Njhzyv     
adj.隐退的,退休的,退役的
参考例句:
  • The old man retired to the country for rest.这位老人下乡休息去了。
  • Many retired people take up gardening as a hobby.许多退休的人都以从事园艺为嗜好。
29 devoutly b33f384e23a3148a94d9de5213bd205f     
adv.虔诚地,虔敬地,衷心地
参考例句:
  • She was a devoutly Catholic. 她是一个虔诚地天主教徒。 来自《简明英汉词典》
  • This was not a boast, but a hope, at once bold and devoutly humble. 这不是夸夸其谈,而是一个即大胆而又诚心、谦虚的希望。 来自辞典例句
30 premises 6l1zWN     
n.建筑物,房屋
参考例句:
  • According to the rules,no alcohol can be consumed on the premises.按照规定,场内不准饮酒。
  • All repairs are done on the premises and not put out.全部修缮都在家里进行,不用送到外面去做。
31 Christian KVByl     
adj.基督教徒的;n.基督教徒
参考例句:
  • They always addressed each other by their Christian name.他们总是以教名互相称呼。
  • His mother is a sincere Christian.他母亲是个虔诚的基督教徒。
32 gasp UfxzL     
n.喘息,气喘;v.喘息;气吁吁他说
参考例句:
  • She gave a gasp of surprise.她吃惊得大口喘气。
  • The enemy are at their last gasp.敌人在做垂死的挣扎。
33 astonishment VvjzR     
n.惊奇,惊异
参考例句:
  • They heard him give a loud shout of astonishment.他们听见他惊奇地大叫一声。
  • I was filled with astonishment at her strange action.我对她的奇怪举动不胜惊异。
34 doorway 2s0xK     
n.门口,(喻)入门;门路,途径
参考例句:
  • They huddled in the shop doorway to shelter from the rain.他们挤在商店门口躲雨。
  • Mary suddenly appeared in the doorway.玛丽突然出现在门口。
35 quaint 7tqy2     
adj.古雅的,离奇有趣的,奇怪的
参考例句:
  • There were many small lanes in the quaint village.在这古香古色的村庄里,有很多小巷。
  • They still keep some quaint old customs.他们仍然保留着一些稀奇古怪的旧风俗。
36 slippers oiPzHV     
n. 拖鞋
参考例句:
  • a pair of slippers 一双拖鞋
  • He kicked his slippers off and dropped on to the bed. 他踢掉了拖鞋,倒在床上。
37 beads 894701f6859a9d5c3c045fd6f355dbf5     
n.(空心)小珠子( bead的名词复数 );水珠;珠子项链
参考例句:
  • a necklace of wooden beads 一条木珠项链
  • Beads of perspiration stood out on his forehead. 他的前额上挂着汗珠。
38 spoke XryyC     
n.(车轮的)辐条;轮辐;破坏某人的计划;阻挠某人的行动 v.讲,谈(speak的过去式);说;演说;从某种观点来说
参考例句:
  • They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
  • The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。
39 mere rC1xE     
adj.纯粹的;仅仅,只不过
参考例句:
  • That is a mere repetition of what you said before.那不过是重复了你以前讲的话。
  • It's a mere waste of time waiting any longer.再等下去纯粹是浪费时间。
40 stunning NhGzDh     
adj.极好的;使人晕倒的
参考例句:
  • His plays are distinguished only by their stunning mediocrity.他的戏剧与众不同之处就是平凡得出奇。
  • The finished effect was absolutely stunning.完工后的效果非常美。
41 lark r9Fza     
n.云雀,百灵鸟;n.嬉戏,玩笑;vi.嬉戏
参考例句:
  • He thinks it cruel to confine a lark in a cage.他认为把云雀关在笼子里太残忍了。
  • She lived in the village with her grandparents as cheerful as a lark.她同祖父母一起住在乡间非常快活。
42 eldest bqkx6     
adj.最年长的,最年老的
参考例句:
  • The King's eldest son is the heir to the throne.国王的长子是王位的继承人。
  • The castle and the land are entailed on the eldest son.城堡和土地限定由长子继承。
43 drawn MuXzIi     
v.拖,拉,拔出;adj.憔悴的,紧张的
参考例句:
  • All the characters in the story are drawn from life.故事中的所有人物都取材于生活。
  • Her gaze was drawn irresistibly to the scene outside.她的目光禁不住被外面的风景所吸引。
44 mellow F2iyP     
adj.柔和的;熟透的;v.变柔和;(使)成熟
参考例句:
  • These apples are mellow at this time of year.每年这时节,苹果就熟透了。
  • The colours become mellow as the sun went down.当太阳落山时,色彩变得柔和了。
45 perfectly 8Mzxb     
adv.完美地,无可非议地,彻底地
参考例句:
  • The witnesses were each perfectly certain of what they said.证人们个个对自己所说的话十分肯定。
  • Everything that we're doing is all perfectly above board.我们做的每件事情都是光明正大的。
46 tawny tIBzi     
adj.茶色的,黄褐色的;n.黄褐色
参考例句:
  • Her black hair springs in fine strands across her tawny,ruddy cheek.她的一头乌发分披在健康红润的脸颊旁。
  • None of them noticed a large,tawny owl flutter past the window.他们谁也没注意到一只大的、褐色的猫头鹰飞过了窗户。
47 chrysanthemums 1ded1ec345ac322f70619ba28233b570     
n.菊花( chrysanthemum的名词复数 )
参考例句:
  • The cold weather had most deleterious consequences among the chrysanthemums. 寒冷的天气对菊花产生了极有害的影响。 来自《简明英汉词典》
  • The chrysanthemums are in bloom; some are red and some yellow. 菊花开了, 有红的,有黄的。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
48 apparently tMmyQ     
adv.显然地;表面上,似乎
参考例句:
  • An apparently blind alley leads suddenly into an open space.山穷水尽,豁然开朗。
  • He was apparently much surprised at the news.他对那个消息显然感到十分惊异。
49 recess pAxzC     
n.短期休息,壁凹(墙上装架子,柜子等凹处)
参考例句:
  • The chairman of the meeting announced a ten-minute recess.会议主席宣布休会10分钟。
  • Parliament was hastily recalled from recess.休会的议员被匆匆召回开会。
50 awfully MPkym     
adv.可怕地,非常地,极端地
参考例句:
  • Agriculture was awfully neglected in the past.过去农业遭到严重忽视。
  • I've been feeling awfully bad about it.对这我一直感到很难受。
51 considerably 0YWyQ     
adv.极大地;相当大地;在很大程度上
参考例句:
  • The economic situation has changed considerably.经济形势已发生了相当大的变化。
  • The gap has narrowed considerably.分歧大大缩小了。
52 raisins f7a89b31fdf9255863139804963e88cf     
n.葡萄干( raisin的名词复数 )
参考例句:
  • These raisins come from Xinjiang,they taste delicious. 这些葡萄干产自新疆,味道很甜。 来自《简明英汉词典》
  • Mother put some raisins in the cake. 母亲在糕饼中放了一些葡萄干。 来自辞典例句
53 parlor v4MzU     
n.店铺,营业室;会客室,客厅
参考例句:
  • She was lying on a small settee in the parlor.她躺在客厅的一张小长椅上。
  • Is there a pizza parlor in the neighborhood?附近有没有比萨店?
54 tinkling Rg3zG6     
n.丁当作响声
参考例句:
  • I could hear bells tinkling in the distance. 我能听到远处叮当铃响。
  • To talk to him was like listening to the tinkling of a worn-out musical-box. 跟他说话,犹如听一架老掉牙的八音盒子丁冬响。 来自英汉文学
55 plaintive z2Xz1     
adj.可怜的,伤心的
参考例句:
  • Her voice was small and plaintive.她的声音微弱而哀伤。
  • Somewhere in the audience an old woman's voice began plaintive wail.观众席里,一位老太太伤心地哭起来。
56 longing 98bzd     
n.(for)渴望
参考例句:
  • Hearing the tune again sent waves of longing through her.再次听到那首曲子使她胸中充满了渴望。
  • His heart burned with longing for revenge.他心中燃烧着急欲复仇的怒火。
57 grunted f18a3a8ced1d857427f2252db2abbeaf     
(猪等)作呼噜声( grunt的过去式和过去分词 ); (指人)发出类似的哼声; 咕哝着说
参考例句:
  • She just grunted, not deigning to look up from the page. 她只咕哝了一声,继续看书,不屑抬起头来看一眼。
  • She grunted some incomprehensible reply. 她咕噜着回答了些令人费解的话。
58 veranda XfczWG     
n.走廊;阳台
参考例句:
  • She sat in the shade on the veranda.她坐在阳台上的遮荫处。
  • They were strolling up and down the veranda.他们在走廊上来回徜徉。
59 entirely entirely     
ad.全部地,完整地;完全地,彻底地
参考例句:
  • The fire was entirely caused by their neglect of duty. 那场火灾完全是由于他们失职而引起的。
  • His life was entirely given up to the educational work. 他的一生统统献给了教育工作。
60 reassuring vkbzHi     
a.使人消除恐惧和疑虑的,使人放心的
参考例句:
  • He gave her a reassuring pat on the shoulder. 他轻拍了一下她的肩膀让她放心。
  • With a reassuring pat on her arm, he left. 他鼓励地拍了拍她的手臂就离开了。
61 earrings 9ukzSs     
n.耳环( earring的名词复数 );耳坠子
参考例句:
  • a pair of earrings 一对耳环
  • These earrings snap on with special fastener. 这付耳环是用特制的按扣扣上去的。 来自《简明英汉词典》
62 halfway Xrvzdq     
adj.中途的,不彻底的,部分的;adv.半路地,在中途,在半途
参考例句:
  • We had got only halfway when it began to get dark.走到半路,天就黑了。
  • In study the worst danger is give up halfway.在学习上,最忌讳的是有始无终。


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